All But Forgotten
by suze-the-practical-ghost
Summary: Re-Write of "I Know Too Much". Same concept, different events. Edward left, Bella is changed, and the past comes back to haunt her. Better than this sucky summary.
1. Change

_**Okay people; another new story! Its kind of a re-writing of **__**I know Too Much**__**. I had several more chapters of that, but –and I will admit– they were terrible. I also had not completely thought it through and so on. This one is hopefully better. And people: review on my stories of there will be no further chapters. I'm writing them for you, so all I need is that in return! Here we go!**_

_**~Suzie Q~**_

_**(it starts off during New Moon, before Bella jumps, so Alice never saw her jump, werewolves are werewolves and Bella knows)**_

**Bella Swan**

I walked down the beach kicking pebbles as I did. This wasn't getting any better. The people I cared about were out there risking their lives for me–again. I looked into the water and saw my own reflection. I was a mess.

I suddenly found myself flying back a few feet into the sand. I blinked against the sun and looked up. I couldn't see much, but what I could see made freeze in horror.

Her wild orange hair whipped in the breeze like a dancing wildfire. Her eyes were black as night and tinted a deep, sinister red. Her expression was cold, like she was trying hard not to enjoy this. She didn't smile.

"Where are your friends," her voice was surprisingly high pitched, bubbly, like a child's. I realized vaguely that this was the first time I had ever heard her speak.

"Not here? What about Edward? Isn't he here? He must not care very much if he left you here unprotected," she continued, her voice bubbling with hate. I clutched my chest as the pain ripped through it. "Not as special as you thought were, huh?"

I winced. "No, I'm not," I said weakly. Admitting it was nothing new, but the pain of it took my breath away.

She smiled like she knew something I didn't, but it was bleak. "Not as smart as he thought either," I thought she mumbled, but it was so low I couldn't have heard right.

"I _was_ going to kill you but… this is worse."

Before I could scream I felt the smallest pinch on the tip of my pinkie and then she was gone. Then the pain began.

At first it felt like my finger was being held in an open flame, then my whole hand was on fire. I screamed.

However much time later I saw the pack gathered around me, every face either hopeless or disgusted. Jake was holding my hand as I screamed, but his usual heat was lost in the fire. I screamed at them to kill me now, they only bowed their heads. Pain tears were rolling down my face, but I burned on…

After an eternity, though it seemed impossible, the fire in my heart got hotter. I gasped and listened to my frantic heart flutter. My back arched as if the fluttering had lifted my off the ground. The fire receded from my fingertips, my arms, my legs, and finally my heart thumped once, twice, and then no more.

I kept my eyes closed, afraid of what I might see. I didn't even breathe.

"Bells?" I heard Jacob's husky voice say. It sounded rougher than I had remembered. "Bella? Can you hear me? Is it over?"

I had barely heard him. For that instance all I could comprehend was the absence of pain. Then my hand felt hot again, like an open flame…

I jerked upright and away from the warm hand holding mine into a crouch and a low hiss escaped my lips. The five mountainous boys all took a step back, looking wary, as if they were in danger. I realized that _I_ was the danger. I stood up straight. The movement was so fluid and instantaneous I marveled at it for a sixteenth of a second. Then I stretched my arms out in front of me, and this too was as fluid as everything physical seemed to be. I actually smiled at the feeling. I heard a hushed growl from someone. Then I looked at my hand. It was pale white.

I blanched. It finally dawned on me what had happened. I studied my hand, briefly noting the already crescent scar, and on the tip of my little finger was a tiny white dot, nothing any normal human would notice. Not that I was normal, _or_ human. This realization made me feel as cold as ice. I stumbled, not out of clumsiness, but out of fear, to the water's edge, getting on my hands and knees. I hesitantly looked at my reflection.

I gasped. The first thing I thought was that I was beautiful. Then I noticed my eyes. They were the sinister red I had remembered on James's eyes, and Victoria's, and Laurent's. They were the color of a vampire's. I hesitantly touched my cheek just below my eye, and the woman in the water did the same. So it was real.

I twisted around and was on my feet in an instant. "Please tell me this isn't real," I begged in a choked voice. Even so, my voice was like chorus of bells. The boys cringed.

"I'm sorry Bells," Jake said.

I turned away and tears rolled down my cheeks, they even stung my skin a little.

"Bella," Jacob called me to attention. I turned to look at him. "You've gotta' leave."

I looked at him, shocked and hurt. But then my throat burst into flames, and I tried to swallow them back. Right. I was dangerous.

"Where can she go, Jacob?" Sam said harshly, but I knew he had to do it.

"Just point to South and I'm gone," I said in my ringing voice.

"Where are you going?" Sam demanded.

"Antarctica," I said. Then I snorted. "Penguins, lovely." I was pretty sure Jake almost cracked a smile. Sam pointed down the beach and I nodded.

"I'm sorry Bells," Jake whispered as I streaked into the water, leaving behind the only life I had left.


	2. And Then There Were Three

**Bella Swan**

It was a very long swim to Antarctica. I tried very hard not to think, even with all the extra room in my head for thinking. I figured if I could delay the truth, I could delay the aftermath. I stayed underwater the entire time; I didn't want to risk running into anyone.

Against my hopes, being underwater did not dull the ache in my throat. I hauled myself up on the Antarctic shore and found myself thinking about home, but I shoved it back before I could go to pieces, letting my thirst consume me. I inhaled the breeze. It was slightly appealing, only very salty. I followed it until it brought me to a large valley filled with a gathering of penguins.

_You have _got_be kidding me_, I thought. I wrinkled my nose and listened.

I heard the appealing lapping sounds of hundreds of hearts beating. The sides of my throat sucked closed. I slipped into a crouch, and with blinding speed— for a human anyway—I leaped claiming three in a matter of minutes. The rest scattered. Although the taste was off, the warm liquid did soothe my scorching throat.

I drank until I felt full and sloshy.

With my thirst out of the way, I hesitantly let myself think.

It was now that I realized I would never see Charlie again; they would probably just tell him I was dead. I felt tears roll down my cheeks as I thought of what that would do to him. I looked at my cold, immortal hands and realized this was exactly how I'd be for the rest of eternity. I let my thoughts drift back to where I had not let them for months.

He was out there somewhere. If he knew… I shook my head. I could _not _let him know. I could not do that to him. What would I be? An immortal annoyance? I would always be here, and he never would be. The thought of living without him hurt me worse than the horrible burning, the fire in my veins. Living forever and forever without him had me clutching my chest in an attempt to hold myself together, but I was past hope and past recovery.

**5 Years Later in Caribou, Maine**

**Bella Swan**

I streaked through the forest following the cries that had reached my ears from miles away. I followed the screams for help in to a clearing where I found a man and woman, both about twenty-eight in age, being mauled by—believe it or not— a rabid grizzly bear just outside a small cabin. I froze in shock for less than a second and then launched myself at the bear.

Of course it was easy to snap its neck and throw the body off a few dozen feet. I turned to the two people lying covered in blood. My throat burst into fire, but I had conquered fighting freshly exposed blood as well. The woman was not very badly hurt; a broken ankle maybe, several cuts, none fatal. The man was worse. He had a long gash down his neck, barely skimming the jugular, a broken leg and probably some ribs too. He wouldn't have lasted an hour. The woman struggled to drag herself to him, despite her condition. She stroked his face and grew frantic when he did not respond to her touch.

Then she looked at me with tear filled eyes. "Please," she begged me, her voice cracking, "you have to help him."

I was at a loss for words. "I…"

"Please, we were just on out honeymoon," I noted the glitter on her left hand.

I still didn't respond.

"Please, I can't loose him. Not now," She sobbed, kissing his hand.

The moment she said those words, my mind was made up. I sank my teeth into her shoulder and jerked away before I could register its taste. I did the same to the man, only I did not stop.

It was the first time I had ever tasted human blood, and it was so _good_. I couldn't stop. I couldn't think, couldn't reason. I just had to _drink_.

"I believe you can," a soft, velvet voice whispered in my ear. I froze, tearing myself away and searching for the source of the voice I had missed so much. There was no one around.

I was brought back, unwillingly, to the present by the sound of the woman's screams. I lifted her up easily and brought her inside their cabin. I found their bedroom and laid her down on the bed. She shrieked and thrashed against my hold.

"Hold still," I whispered, "Do it for your husband."

She looked at me with tear filled eyes. "Adam?" she asked, her voice with a bit of resolve.

"Yes. He needs you," I told her. I wasn't sure if she heard me, but she closed her eyes and made an effort to hold still.

In a flash, I retrieved her husband and brought him to his wife. I was glad he hadn't woken up, though it wouldn't be long. When I laid him on the bed, the woman gripped his hand.

"What's your name?" I asked her.

She was almost in too much pain to answer, but she finally did. "Julie," she managed to croak out.

About four hours later, Adam did wake up and caused quite a ruckus. But the moment he saw Julie by his side, he never looked away from her eyes. He barely whimpered the last two days of the transformation.

After those two days, as soon as the pain was gone, they were in each others arms and I had a feeling, their newborn strength or not, there was probably nothing I could do to pull them apart. Just seeing them like that had me clutching at my chest, the fault line down the center rippling in pain, leaving me breathless. They seemed to notice me after a moment and gazed at my contorted expression with curiosity and wonder. I controlled my expression a little more and asked them "How are you feeling?"

"Overwhelmed," Julie said after a minute.

I smiled bleakly, "It's like that at first. You'll get used it."

"Thank you," Adam said, his voice was husky, but smooth. It sort of reminded me of Jacob's. "I don't know what you did, but I can't thank you enough. I thought I was going to lose her," he said the last part quietly.

Julie's smile was of pure happiness, I felt a little happier myself. "Who are you?" she asked me.

"I'm Bella. And you are…" I couldn't quite frame the word.

"I know," she assured me. Her grin didn't falter.

Adam looked at her questioningly. "She bit us," she explained in a low voice. Shock flitted across his face.

"Oh," he said, dazed. Then he recovered. "I don't care, as long as I have you."

"You do. Forever," I told them in an attempt to subtly drop the "immortal" bomb on them.

"Forever?" they said at the same time, looking dumbfounded.

I nodded.

Julie looked at him and shrugged. "Works for me," she said nonchalantly. Adam laughed and I just stared at her, bewildered.

They both laughed at my expression.

"So… now what?" Julie asked me while Adam played with her fingers.

"Now…" I wondered how best to put it. "Now you get to go on a year-long honeymoon. Or, at least until you can handle your thirst." I was seriously hoping Julie _did_ know.

This time Adam shrugged. "Works for us."

I tried to laugh, but my chest had started aching again.


	3. The More the Merrier

**Bella Swan**

Julie, Adam and I had been together in Maine for a few years when we found Emily and Carter.

We were racing. Julie's corn silk hair was coming loose from her braid at the speed of our travel.

"Ha!" she exalted when she reached our house before Adam did.

"I let you win," he insisted. She reached up and tousled his dark, curly hair.

"Well I still beat both of you," I interjected. They both grumbled unhappily.

"Hello?" a sweet voice called to us from the yard of our house.

We turned to find a small vampire—she looked about eighteen or nineteen—sitting on the steps of our porch looking confused and scared. "Who are you?" I asked.

She was dressed casually; jeans and a cotton, black t-shirt, though she was covered in dirt, like she'd been on the run for a thousand miles or so, and her curly red hair hung down to her waist. "I'm Emily," she said. "I was just…looking for someone."

"Who were you looking for?" Julie spoke up.

"Anyone. Anyone at all. I've been alone for a year, no one will tell me what I am what to do, and I'm just scared," her voice was shaking.

"But _do _you know what you are?" Adam asked.

"I… I think so. Am…am I a vampire?" she looked so scared.

I nodded. She put her head in her hands and dry sobbed. I stepped up and put my arms around her, and glanced back at Julie.

"She's telling the truth." Julie had discovered she had a gift of knowing whether people are lying or telling the truth within a few weeks of her transformation. I raised an eyebrow at her. She knew what I was asking and nodded.

"You can stay with us," I offered quietly. She looked up at me with dry, miserable eyes.

"Really?" she asked. I nodded.

"Thank you. I've been so scared... I have no idea what to do," her voice was uncertain.

"Well first, we'll take you hunting, and then you can take a shower," I chuckled a little at the last part.

She laughed and looked down at her ripped jeans and frayed shirt. "I guess I could use a little freshening up."

"Uh, yeah," I laughed.

After we had taken her hunting, she had readily agreed to our "vegetarian" lifestyle. After we had all gotten cleaned up, we all sat in the living room.

"So tell us about yourself. Where were you before...all this?" Julie had asked.

"I lived in New York State. My mother had been killed when our car crashed and I was just stumbling around the forest, trying to find help when…I just remember her hair was like wildfire, and her eyes were blood-red. Then the fire in my veins was like…" she shuddered. My mind pointed to Victoria; she was still out there. "Then I just kept to the north, stayed out of the sun you know? Everyone I ran into were nomads, they said it was the best way but, I wanted to _find_ another way. And then I crossed your scent and followed it here. What about you three? What are your stories?" Emily asked us.

Adam smiled at Julie and said, "We were married, and for our honeymoon we stayed in a cute little cabin in the woods. We were attacked by a rabid bear and Bella," he swept his gaze over to me, "killed it and changed us. I'll never understand how she _stopped_…" he trailed off in wonder.

I just shrugged. "I'm not really sure. I just snapped out of it." That was true enough that Julie didn't pay much attention.

"What about you? What's your story?" Emily asked me sweetly.

I was instantly tense. "Uh, it was pretty normal; school, friends, family. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Julie frowned at this lie. I had never told them the real story about my life, nor did I plan to. She had known this when I had told them that story the first time, but she also knew I probably had a good reason for it.

It was four months later that Carter came along.

We were in the house just packing up to move again when we heard screams coming from the woods. It sounded like they were only a half mile away.

It was Victoria.

She had a boy who looked about nineteen or twenty writhing in pain under her grasp. She looked up at us. Emily gasped and I knew Victoria had been responsible for her change, too.

"You!" Victoria snarled. Emily thought she was talking to her, but Victoria launched herself at me. I shoved her in the direction of the house. She was coming at me with teeth bared and no intentions of letting me live.

"Take care of him!" I shouted at them when they started to follow me. I noticed briefly that Emily was already holding his hand and whispering soothing words to him.

It didn't take long. She hardly fought. I knew this is what she wanted, because it was the same thing I wanted; freedom from the pain of losing the one you loved. That's the only reason she did this to me, so that it would hurt less, but it didn't. I felt sorry for her and I did her a kindness. I dashed into the house and grabbed a lighter.

The others were shocked, except for Emily, who was still at the boy's side.

"How did she know you? Why did she…? Why did you…? Are we missing something here?" Julie was exasperated.

I looked at her sadly. "Yeah, you are," was all I said, and then I went to where Emily was with the boy.

He was only whimpering, trying to be brave I guessed.

Emily looked up at me with desperate eyes. "What can we do?" she asked, her voice shaking.

I shook my head, "There's nothing more we can do except help him when it's over."

"He can stay with us, can't he?" She had already become attached to him, it was obvious. Like… I winced. Like Rosalie and Emmett; she saved him and was destined to love him. My face contorted in pain and my chest rippled.

"Please?" Emily begged, mistaking my expression for a "no."

I just nodded, too pained to speak.

She went back to stroking his hand. I wasn't sure how much of that he had heard of the conversation, not that it mattered.

"Are you okay?" Julie asked me in a low voice.

"I'm fine," I said weakly. She frowned at my obvious lie.

Once the change was over, he opened his ruby eyes. His blonde hair was tousled in his face and he shook it out of the way. "What happened?" his voice was smooth, but shaking with fear.

"It's okay," Emily soothed him. He sat up and seemed taken off guard by the movement. "What's your name?" she asked him.

"I'm Carter," he said quietly.

Emily explained everything to him; she even told him our stories. He jut sat there and listened, seeming transfixed by the sound of her voice. As Emily introduced us, we each in turn gave him a warm smile. He smiled back shyly.

Emily even took him hunting. They were going to get along just fine. When they were back we continued our move to Alaska. It was a good thing we were already on the way to a very remote town, perfect for newborn madness.


	4. A New School and An Old Friend

**Bella Swan**

The last one to join our coven was Kyle.

After we lived in Alaska for a few years, going through high school yet again, we moved on to London. I had to admit, I was excited; I had never been out of the country before.

We had enrolled in high school there as juniors, Julie and Adam posing as our parents as usual. He was alone in the territory and after an hour of just sitting and talking, he just fell into place. It turned out he was a tracker, which instantly made me distrust him, but he was very friendly and reassured us he wasn't sadistic about it. It worked so that once he had caught the "tone" of anyone's mind, it was like a game of hot and cold. But since it worked inside the mind I was immune to it, which, admittedly, did give me some sense of reassurance. He had the normal vampire feeding habits, but was awed by our resistance. He even asked us to take him hunting. It seemed that at the end of the day, nothing had to be said; he would stay with us. He readily adapted to our version of life and I never had a reason to feel wary about him since then. It was so easy to like him; I often thought it was a gift, something he brought from his former life. Whenever he laughed, his black hair flopped around his face and his laughter was contagious.

When it was time to move on, it was only natural that he came with us, and he was more than happy to have found a coven to stay with.

As each new member added to our coven, I felt myself be tied down, one rope at a time. My pain was not enough that I would cause them misery if I went off myself. It was like it was with Charlie; I was surviving for my family, not myself, not for hope; they were the only thing that kept my alive. There may have come a day when my own pain would outweigh theirs, but until then I had to but on a content mask. In truth, I got better at hiding my pain every day, though the pain never decreased at all. So why did fate seemed determined to make me as miserable as possible?

_**Skipping ahead to when Bella has been a vampire for 50 years.**_

**Bella Swan**

"Where will we go now?" Kyle mused as we sat in the living room and discussed our future home. We had just graduated college; _again_.

Julie spoke. "I've been doing some research on some of the most sunless places in the world. I found a little town called Forks." My chest rippled worse than usual, but I hardly flinched. She went on, "It's on the Olympic Peninsula, almost never sunny and a tiny population, not to mention a vast array of wildlife surrounding it."

"No," I tried to say to say calmly, but my voice shook a little with the pain.

"Why not?" my sudden outburst had startled Carter.

"That's where I lived before…all this," I tried to explain without revealing too much.

"But it's been, what, fifty years?" Emily contradicted.

"Yea, but Forks is so small, anything is big news. When people go missing, it's huge. I'm bound to have left rumors behind, even after all this time." I felt a wave of sadness as I remembered Charlie and how he must have grieved when I was "dead".

"But," I said, trying to deflect their plan, "I found a little town called Neah Bay. It's even further north, and just as cloudy. Surrounded by mountains and forests, too." My logic was unshakable.

"I don't see why not," Kyle conceded. "Better safe than sorry, right?"

We had visited the town that weekend and found a large, three story house that about half of the walls were all glass. It had an unnecessary kitchen and seven bedrooms, though we only needed four. Julie and Emily automatically planned future renovations and remodeling that could be done. I bet Esme would have loved it. I winced a little as the thought stung me. We had about a ten minute run home and we were already packing everything up. It would take about half a week to ship all the furniture there, but, even though we could have moved it all up there in a matter of hours, we had to wait. We used those days to say our goodbyes to the town and go hunting.

When we did move there it was the same thing. We were enrolled in the town high school and of course, our new arrival brought so much gossip they may as well have put in the newspaper. The first day of school was always the worst and best day.

It was the worst because it was _high school_, and it was the best because it was the most amusing. The humans, of course, only had to look at us, and then we had to find a hundred different articulated and tactful ways to say 'stay the hell away from me'. At lunch we regrouped to complain and compare.

"Twenty!" Emily complained. "Twenty times in one hour I was asked out. Not to mention these!" she dumped a little handful of scraps of paper onto the table. Each one had a name and phone number on it, or some suggestive question.

"Guys, just wait like a month or two. We'll blow over soon enough," he struggled to stay optimistic, and not to crush something with his bare hands.

"I dunno Kyle," I said, feigning uncertainty. "I'm not sure they'll _ever_ get tired of that _sexy British accent_!" I cooed, imitating every girl I'd heard all day. He shoved my shoulder hard.

Carter and Emily had tried to make it as obvious as possible that they were with each other, while wishing us the best of luck at fighting off the unsuspecting, lust-crazed humans. We were almost desperate enough to fake that _we _were together; but not quite.

After we lunch was biology, English, and gym. In biology I was lucky enough to have a table all to myself. But that could not stop half a dozen boys from making an attempt to approach me.

"So you moved from Alaska? Don't they have sun there?" one asked me. I saw the fear in his eyes. Unfortunately it was only fear that he had offended me about my unusually pale skin, and not fear of _me_.

"Sometimes," I replied coldly and curtly. He took my icy rebuff as dismissal.

It went on like that for the rest of the day.

One day down, a lot more to go.

_**A week or so later**_

In idea popped into my head.

"Later guys!" I yelled to everyone, who were sitting in the kitchen.

I raced down the coast; no one was around to notice me, not they could see me anyway.

I kept going until the forest seemed to take on a familiar glow.

La Push.

I stopped on the beach; it was cloudy enough that I could walk there safely. I walked down the familiar shore to where I saw a landmark; the whitewashed tree Jake and I used to sit on and talk when he wasn't trying to hunt down Victoria. I wondered if he was still here; that was the reason for the visit.

Then I heard the soft whisper of the rest of my family following, and instantly felt qualms of not explaining this further. It was crucial that a group of us were not found on Quileute land.

"What are you doing?" Emily demanded.

"Bad, bad, bad! Go back! Like now," they didn't seem to get it. "Seriously guys, it's bad enough I'm risking this, but if we're _all_ here it's really, really bad—"I stopped talking when I heard the heavy padding of paws. It sounded as if they're were six or seven.

"Dammit," I hissed. I shoved as many bodies as I could in the direction of home. "I swear I'll explain all of this later! Just _go_!"

No one seemed to be listening to me. "What is that?" Carter demanded, taking a protective stance by Emily.

But by then, it was too late.

"Aw crap!" I complained, momentarily panicking about how I was going to talk us out of this.

They came in a line, a large russet wolf at the point, a Black no doubt. They circled us, teeth bared and snarling with black fury.

"Bella?" Adam seethed. "What the _hell_ is going on?!"

"Ummmm, parley?" I tried in a feeble attempt to lighten the tension. They didn't find it amusing.

"Ugh, dammit!" I almost shouted. Then I did shout, "Jacob Black if you're not in a wheelchair, you get your furry butt out here!"

The wolves growled and inched closer.

"Bella," Julie whimpered desperately.

I took a deep breath. "Does the name Cullen ring a bell?" I asked, trying unsuccessfully to keep my voice from shaking.

The growls stopped and they looked at each other warily, undecided. Then the russet wolf started to shudder.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I may be sixty-eight years old, but I still have the innocence of my eyes!" I protested, holding one had up as a shield and looked the other way. Once I was sure that he had his shorts on I peeked in his direction; luckily he was clothed. He was definitely a Black; he was the spitting image of his dad, or grandfather; I wasn't quite sure.

"You are the Cullens?" the boy asked. His voice was husky and rough, just the way I had remembered Jacob's.

"No," I answered. Growls erupted. "But we are like them. Vegetarians, if you will." I couldn't help but chuckle at our tongue-in-cheek name. "I came to visit an old friend. Jacob Black. Your grandfather, I believe."

His face was shocked.

"Look," I said, a bit impatient, "My eyes; they're gold, not red. Animal blood dilutes the color. I just want to talk to Jake."

The boy still looked undecided. Then he nodded. "Follow me."

"Bella!" Julie shouted, exasperated.

I glanced at their rigid faces and stances. "Ah, of course; introductions. Everyone, the Quileute werewolves, Quileute werewolves, everyone."

My family stared at me dumbfounded. So did the wolves.

"Who are you?" Jacob's grandson asked.

"Bella Swan. Have you heard of me?"

~~~~~( '_')~~~~~~~~~~~~~( '_')~~~~~~~~~~~~~( '_')~~~~~~~~~~~~

They brought us to the center of the reservation and to the little house I used to spend all my time in. I smiled.

The boy opened the door, and walked in calling out, "Grandpa!"

Jake came to the door. Well, I _thought_ it was Jake. He was older and wrinkled, but he looked like Jake. He looked up. "What is it Charlie?" I smiled and my eyes stung a little when he said my father's name. Then he noticed me and a giant, boyish grin spread across his face. "Bells!"

I smiled warmly. "Hey Jake." I walked over to him and hugged him as tightly as I could without breaking him. His arms were warmer than I remembered as he hugged me back. I pulled back, looked at him and frowned.

"You're old," I complained.

Jake chuckled. "You're older than I am," he pointed out.

"Psh, and I still have less wrinkles," I said.

"Jake? What's going on?" a woman's voice came from the house. The first thing that caught my attention was the glimmer on her left hand. My mouth fell open with an audible gasp.

"I missed your wedding?" I said quietly, feeling remorseful. "Some best friend I am," I sulked.

"I would have sent you and invitation but…" he said cheerfully. The woman had reached his side by then. "Bella, you know Leah Clearwater."

"I'm so happy for you two," I said, shaking her hand; I was shocked to find her grasp as warm as her. She smiled shyly.

"What about you, Bells? How have you been?" he said, humor gone, his brow furrowed.

I shrugged. "I never change," I said simply.

"Bella?" Julie whispered. I'd forgotten about them momentarily.

Jake glanced over my shoulder and smiled wryly. "I see you're not a hermit anymore," he said slyly.

"Nomad," I corrected indignantly.

"Sure, sure," he said in the same patronizing tone he'd always used.

I stuck my tongue out at him and he chuckled.

"Well I suppose I have to go seeing as how they're all fearing for there lives," I said nodding my head towards the rest of my family.

Jake chuckled. "Come visit more. They won't hurt you."

"Later Jake," I smiled. "Come on guys, no one's dying tonight."

After the run to our house I braced myself for the worst.

"_What the hell was that!_" everyone screamed at once.

_**Sorry guys. This one took me a while to write I think this was the longest chapter I've ever written. The good parts are coming up in the next chapter! And before you ask, BELLA DOES NOT LOVE KYLE! Nor will she, nor does he. **_

_**Trust me guys, Bella is **_**not**_** the one Kyle falls in love with.**_

_**But what did **_**that**_** mean? Kudos to anyone who figures it out before I get the next chapter out.**_

_**I write for reviews, and I won't post the next chapter till I have a total of 10 reviews!**_

_**~SuzieQ~ **_


	5. Phenomenon

**Bella Swan**

"_What the hell was that_!" everyone screamed at once.

"Calm down!" I tried to defend myself, "None of you were supposed to follow me! I guess I should have explained it first though…"

"_Ya think?!_" Adam seethed. "What _was_ that? What were _they_? Who was that? _What aren't you telling us_?!"

"Chill out!" I cried. "That was Jacob Black. They are werewolves. Jake's my best friend from when I was human. I knew he was a werewolf back when he was sixteen. His pack was hunting for the vampire that changed me, Emily and Carter when she changed me. I had to leave because I was so dangerous. I haven't seen him in fifty years."

They seemed to have calmed down some. "Who are the _Cullens_?" Emily asked me.

My chest ripped open, and I tried to compose myself. "Well, I hung out there a lot; went to bonfires, heard a bunch of old legends, you know? I heard one story about a coven of vampires called the Cullens. The pack is designed to kill vampires; to protect their tribe. They came across a large coven; they were outnumbered but prepared to fight them off anyway. But this other coven claimed they were different." I was in full-on story telling mode; I was even speaking as if I were one of the pack. "They said their strange yellow eyes gave proof that they weren't like other blood-drinkers. They swore they wouldn't harm the Quileutes, but the tribe elders didn't trust them entirely. The coven offered a treaty, even though they could have easily killed the pack. They treaty said that as long as they stayed of Quileute land, they wouldn't expose them to the pale faces. But there were a few loners, nomads, that strayed into their land. They did not have the same alibi as the others, and their fate was not as desirable."

The others were shocked into an awed silence.

Julie recovered first. "Is that where you got this idea from?"

Kyle was next. "You hung out with werewolves?" he demanded severely.

"You knew about vampires before you were one?" Emily asked quietly.

"Yes. All the time. Sort of," I answered them.

"Why didn't you ever mention this? Adam asked, his anger fading.

I shrugged. "It never came up."

Carter snorted.

"Okay, okay. Enough yelling at Bella. We have school in the morning. I'm going out for a run," I said, sighing.

"Okay," Julie seemed dazed, or maybe just preoccupied with other thoughts.

I raced into the trees and found the highest one in the forest. I sat up on a high branch and sobbed until the sun began to rise.

**Julie Madison**

There was something that didn't fit. She always lied about her past, the littlest things made her flinch, but there was no pattern to it, and now she's best friends with a _werewolf_!?

I had tried to press her about her past once, but she had dodged it in a way that made it clear that that subject was off limits. And where did the Cullens fit in with all of this?

It made no sense.

"What is it?" Adam asked me. We had the house to ourselves; Bella was off on her run, Emily and Carter were somewhere with a view, and Kyle had inconspicuously found an excuse to leave the house. It's not that I wasn't grateful, but I was too worried to enjoy it.

"It's Bella," I admitted.

His arms slid around my waist and he pulled me close to him. "I don't know what this means," he said quietly.

"It doesn't fit. Nothing fits! I've never found a reason to distrust her but…" I was getting worked up and tried to contain myself. "I feel like there's a whole other side to her we don't know about; it's like we don't know her anymore."

Adam pressed his lips to my forehead. "I think I know someone who does."

I shuddered. "I don't trust those wolves. I know Bella's best friends with them," my voice was sour, "but going there alone would be very dangerous. Even if it wasn't scared, I have a feeling that it's really, really bad."

"We can try, but there's probably a reason why she's been keeping secrets. Do you know a better person than her?" he tried to soothe me, but I was still worried.

And I _would_ find out who the Cullens were.

_**One Year Later**_

**Bella Swan**

It was about two months into our senior year, one year after we moved there, when all hell broke loose.

There was a new girl coming today; Abigail Wright. The buzz about her was all that had consumed the tiny student population. I felt a brief bit of sorrow for her; after all, I had been her once.

It was at lunch when I started feeling weird.

I examined the new girl from across the room, my eyes had no trouble.

She had dirty-blonde hair and grey, storm-cloud-looking eyes, and her skin was pale, but not in the vampire way, but in the human-me way. She was beautiful, but in a very subtle way.

"Who are _they_?" she asked one of the girls at the table she was sitting at. Her voice was smooth, almost like she was singing. Of course I knew they she was referring to the table of mysteriously beautiful people who never interacted with anyone but each other.

This was one of the Jessica-of-this-time, Myra's, favorite topics.

**Abby Wright**

"Those are the Madisons and Swans and Peters. The red haired one, that's Emily Swan. She's with Carter Madison, the blonde. It's weird, they're like _together_ together. I'm not even sure it's legal," Myra told me in a low voice.

"They're not actually related, Myra," the girl from my chemistry class contradicted.

"But they _live _together. Anyway, The girl with brown hair is Bella Swan—"

"Dude, she's _frigid_," one named John cut in.

"Seriously," Dan backed him up, "I asked her if they had sun in Alaska—that's where they moved from last year— she looked like she wanted to kill herself, or me."

I snuck a glance in her direction. She was playing with her untouched food, but it looked like she was smiling, almost laughing, like she had heard us and found all this very amusing.

"Guys," Myra complained. "She's all like emo and stuff. None of them ever talk to anyone except for teachers and each other," she resumed her story. But she didn't continue.

"And the one with the black hair?" I prompted. She flinched a little.

"That…" she said, drawing it out for dramatic effect, trying to cover up her reaction, "is Kyle Peters. Totally hot, totally British, totally ignores every girl in the school." Her face had darkened into a scowl. I almost laughed. "Don't waste your time, apparently none of the girls here are good enough looking for him." She sniffed; a clear case of sour grapes. I wondered when he had turned her down. I did laugh that time, but it was so qiet I doubted she'd heard me.

"So the Madisons adopted them all when they were really young. I think Mrs. Madison can't have kids. But, no one knows anything about them. They're just plain freaks," John explained to me. I just nodded.

After lunch I had Biology, Spanish, and English.

When I walked into Biology, naturally, I tripped on the threshold and someone giggled. I was horrified to see that the only open seat was next to Kyle Peter. I barely glanced at him and just as I passed, he was suddenly rigid in his seat. He stared at me, meeting my eyes with the strangest expression on his face —it was hostile, furious. I saw that his eyes were coal black. I flushed a deep red and handed my slip to Mr. Clark.

Of course, he had to send me to the only open seat; the one next to _him_.

I didn't look at him when I set my books down, but I saw from my peripheral vision that he was leaning away from me, his face scrunched up like he smelled something bad. I swung my hair over my shoulder as a divider between us.

The hour was unbearable. The lecture was on something I'd already covered in my school in Sun City, Arizona, but I took notes nonetheless.

As soon as the bell rang, he rose gracefully and fluidly and made it out of the door before anyone had even stood up. I just stared after him blankly. John skipped over to my desk to walk me to Spanish. I could imagine him with a wagging tail.

At the end of the day I went to the office to return my slip I had signed by all the teachers. Kyle Peters stood at the desk in front of me; I recognized his jet black hair. He didn't appear to notice the sound of my entrance. I stood pressed against the back wall, waiting for the receptionist to be free.

He was arguing with her in a low, attractive voice. I quickly picked up the argument; He was trying to trade sixth-hour Biology to another time — any other time.

**Kyle Peter**

"Mrs. White?" I asked, using a very persuasive tone. Her heartbeat stuttered.

"Yes Kyle, what can I do for you?" her eyes fluttered behind her thick glasses.

"I was wondering if I could change from my biology class to something more advanced. Physics, maybe?"

"Well…" she hesitated. " Physics is pretty much full. Is there a problem with Mr. Clark?" her heartbeat was racing and her eyes were wide.

"No, it's just that I've already studied the material…" I needed an excuse. Any excuse.

"At that accelerated school you went to in Alaska," she pursed her lips.

"Yes," I responded politely. "I wouldn't be any trouble."

"Of course not," she muttered too low for any normal human to low. She spoke to me then, "Well there aren't enough seats…"

"Could I drop it them?" I said quickly. "I could use it for independent study."

Her mouth dropped open. "You wouldn't have enough credits to graduate," she reasoned.

"I'll make it up next year," I all but snapped at her.

The door opened behind me, but I ignored whoever walked in. I leaned slightly closer, and held my eyes a little wider. This would work better if they were gold instead of black; the blackness frightened people, as it should.

"Please, Mrs. White?" I made my voice as smooth and compelling as it could be — and it could be very compelling. "Isn't there some other section I could switch to? I'm sure sixth-hour Biology isn't the only option…"

I smiled at her, careful not to flash my teeth so widely that it would scare her, letting the expression soften my face.

Her heart drummed faster. "Well, I could see…"

A second was all it took to change everything: the atmosphere in the room, my mission here, the reason I leaned toward the red-haired woman… What had been for one purpose was now for another.

A second was all it took for Samantha Wiles to open the door and place a signed tardy slip in the basket by the door, and hurry out again, in a rush to be away from school. A second was all it took for the sudden gust of wind through the open door to crash into me.

I turned, though I did not need to make sure.

I turned slowly, fighting to control the muscles that rebelled against me. Abby Wright stood with her back pressed to the wall of the office, a piece of paper clutched in her hand. Her stormy grey eyes were wide as she took in my inhuman glare.

The smell of her blood saturated every particle of the air in the tiny, hot room. My throat burst into flames.

Before I could do anything really _bad_, I turned back to Mrs. White. "Never mind, then. I can see it's impossible."

I walked quickly, too quickly, to my Mercedes and slid into the driver's seat; my family was already in the car waiting for me. I gasped at the fresh air, trying to rid my tongue of her scent.

"What the hell happened?" Carter demanded.

I didn't answer and threw the car into reverse.

"Kyle?" Bella asked in a tone that made me think she was afraid. I barely glanced at her.

I heard her gasp quietly. What did _that_ mean?

I glanced in the mirror. My eyes were a deep, coal black, even though we went hunting last night. That's what she must have seen. Still, her breath was ragged, and she stared out the shotgun window.

I dropped my family at the top of the driveway without an explanation and sped away. The last thing I saw was Bella's expression in the rear view mirror. It was full of anguish, like some one was burning her alive. It haunted me all of the drive to Alaska.

_**Alrighty, if you haven't figured out the big thing by now… go get your brain checked! See this is where the story starts getting interesting! Wow you guys are awesome with reviewing. If I get over one hundred throughout this whole story, you guys will make my week. Click the review button!**_

_**Do it!**_

_**Seriously!**_

_**Like, now! **_

_**Really! **_

_**Please…**_

_**~SuzieQ~**_


	6. Cryptic

**Bella Swan**

_It's a vampire thing_, I tried to convince myself. _It has nothing to do with you_. But it seemed very unlikely that this was a _coincidence_. At this point in time I had thought I couldn't suffer any more than I was, but, as usual, I was wrong.

Kyle was gone for a week. I could only imagine Abigail's response to his inhuman glare, his black eyes furious. Then I realized I didn't have to imagine how she reacted, because I knew.

_Not the same_, I argued with myself.

But the next Monday, mine, Abigail's, and Kyle's fates were sealed.

**Kyle Peters**

This was unbearable. No, it was cowardly. I was ashamed; ashamed of making a mistake, ashamed of putting my family in danger, and that fragile little human.

The other thing bothering me was; why? Why me? Why her? Why now?

I leaned back on the snow bank and thought about the other mystery.

Why had Bella reacted this way?

It seemed as though she knew what was happening the second she saw my face. But _her_ face… I shivered. It looked like she was being burned alive, like her whole world was coming crashing down. But _why_?

Those two faces haunted my vision; Abby's terrified shock, and Bella's heartbroken face. I inhaled. In the clear Alaskan mountain air, it was almost impossible to believe she was so irresistible. But I had made it through that hour; I had mastered the monster inside me. But just barely…

I went on like that for a week. At the end of that week I decided I wouldn't get answers by sitting there wondering.

So I went back to face this head on.

**~!#$%^&*()_+_)(*&^%$#!~**

The reception I got was nothing I didn't expect excluding one member of my family. Most of them just wanted to know what was going on. Bella asked no questions. What I _did_ notice surprised me.

It seemed like Julie was studying Bella out of the corner of her eye, and Bella's expression was lifeless.

"Will you be able to go to school tomorrow?" Emily asked me, drawing my attention away from my observations.

I deliberated for a moment.

"You'll have to get it over with _sometime_," Adam said, his brows furrowed. "Maybe it won't be as bad, since you know."

"Maybe…" I trailed off.

"It'll get easier," Bella promised me in a quiet voice.

"What do you mean?" Julie demanded, before I could ask. Adam stroked her arm soothingly and she calmed a bit.

Bella shrugged; her expression was still lifeless. "Mind over matter," she said. Her hands trembled and her voice shook. I heard the invisible quotation marks in her statement.

"Has this happened to you? How do you know? Would you put this girl in danger?" Julie's voice was severe.

I saw a flash of intuition cross Bella's eyes. "I've witnessed… " she hesitated, "rather, _experienced _this first hand. There's nothing to do but keep breathing and get used to it," her voice was shocked at whatever revelation she'd just experienced.

Julie looked a little bit appeased.

"I can do it," I had to work to keep my voice certain.

The net day, I tried to put on a brave face, but no one was fooled and everyone was on edge; except for Bella.

She was worse.

She looked terrified and torn between something. Sometimes she opened her mouth to speak, but shut it quickly again. The day was excruciating.

Finally, lunch came. I sat with my family and listened closely for when Abby came in. When she did, I automatically locked my muscles down and stopped my intake of air. The others, minus Bella, gave me sympathetic looks. I saw Bella gazing over my shoulder at the lunch line, and the girl, no doubt. I kicked her under the table but she ignored me. I permitted myself a glance over my shoulder.

The girl was laying with her head on her hands on the tale. She looked paler than usual, and there were purple rings under her eyes, like she needed a good nights sleep. I felt a strange wave of tenderness come over me. How odd.

"You don't have to do this," Carter told me. Of course I knew this.

"It'll have to happen sometime," I said. I was still a little bit miffed at Bella so asked her a little too severely, "What do _you _think?"

She looked at me and smiled wryly. "She's not dying today." Cryptic; as usual.

I studied her suddenly pained features before she turned away.

I heard the waning bell ring and rose to my feet. Just before I reached the door to the biology room, I took a deep breath.

She was sitting at her— well, _our_— lab table and doodling on her notebook. It just a bunch of loops within loops. I pulled the chair back, letting scrape the floor to alert her of my presence. She didn't look up, but her hand missed a loop in her drawing.

"Hello," I said quietly, trying not to scare her. She looked up, startled no doubt, but didn't speak. "My name is Kyle. I didn't get a chance to introduce myself last week." I had a little bit of air left.

She just stared, but gained composure after a second. "I'm Abby."

It was awkwardly silent for a moment. Luckily the teacher started his lecture and we both turned to face the front of the room. He was explaining the lab we would start, and I would need more air if I were to get a full sentence out. I leaned away as far as permitted and took a deep breath through my mouth.

Ah!

It was generally painful. My throat burst into flames and my muscles were coiled to spring… I tried to control myself and relax my position. I barely heard the teacher explaining the lab.

"Get started," he said.

It took all of my control, but I turned back to Abby. "After you."

**~!#$%^&*()_+_)(*&^%$#!~**

We were finished the lab before anyone else. Abby went back to doodling in her notebook. I wanted to leave a new impression on her so I asked her, "How do you like Neah Bay so far?"

**Bella Swan**

_Should I tell them?_ I wondered. But it didn't really matter because this… situation had nothing to do with me or my past. That's what I told myself anyway.

But I should have known.

**~!#$%^&*()_+_)(*&^%$#!~**

The next day the ice was covered with a slick sheet of ice and every human was on edge. I studied Kyle briefly. He looked almost… hopeful? That didn't quite make sense. He looked intently in another direction. I followed his gaze; Abby Wright. He looked like he was deliberating, maybe whether to go over and talk to her or not. Emily and Carter, however, were gathering large slush balls to hurl at him while he was distracted.

I saw Abby get out if her Toyota compact car of some kind (no amount of vampire venom could interest me in cars). She walked around to the back of her car carefully, holding onto it for support. When she reached the back she looked at her tires and her expression became tender.

So it was really happening.

I heard the sound of tires squeaking, to far off for anyone without superhuman hearing.

"No," I mouthed the word.

"What?" everyone asked.

I was frozen. How could this happen? Why me? Why _her_? What did I do? As if I wasn't suffering enough.

I didn't have to look to know what would happen. I heard the loud squeal of tires protesting against brakes, this time much closer. I stared as the van skidded directly towards Abby who was frozen in shock, as was I. My own memories took over my vision, my blurry human memories. I saw two white hands shoot out protectively in front of me, and a low curse in the voice of the one I loved. I saw the large van being lifted by the same pale hand, and felt myself being dragged by my feet.

"No," I said, my voice barely audible.

Then the memory vanished and I looked at what was happening here and now. I saw that Kyle was next to the girl; she was lying on the cold ground. I couldn't bring myself to move or cry or run or anything I wanted to do. I heard their all too familiar conversation.

"I saw you," she said in childlike disbelief.

"Abby, I was standing with you, and I pulled you out of the way."

I tried not to hear the rest, but I didn't miss his promise to explain everything later. A promise that would go un-kept, for the time being anyway.

I felt cold as ice and didn't even register when the others were calling my name.

"Bella," Emily shook my shoulder, "Bella!"

I followed them mechanically to where the students and officials were crowding. Kyle made his way to us his face torn between remorse and worry. He would get hell for this when we got home. I smiled blackly internally when I realized that Abby would go to sleep completely, blissfully unaware that we would be arguing whether or not to kill her.

"Get in the car," I said and spun on my heel walked to the car. I heard them follow and practically felt their eyes boring holes in my back.

I slid into the driver's seat for a change and they paused briefly in shock. As soon as they were all in I threw the car into reverse and followed after the ambulance that had left about ten minutes ago. When I pulled into the hospital parking lot they stared at me.

"What are we —" Kyle started.

I cut him off. "You promised," I reminded him solemnly. His eyes widened in shock but I looked pointedly at him and he climbed out.

"What is going on here?" Carter asked me.

I just smiled wryly and said, "Wait for it."

Emily sighed in frustration. I figured they were all pretty tired of my vague answers. Especially Julie. I was shocked when I first realized she was starting to distrust me, but I also knew she didn't want to. But she was getting very suspicious of my constant lying and the whole werewolf situation was probably not helping. I realized that she had probably made wrong assumption about my past based of the facts that my best friend is a werewolf, Victoria was somehow involved, and my recent odd behavior. Maybe it was time to tell them the truth? I didn't know. But I knew soon enough I would have to, what with the looming ordeals to come.

"How long will we be here?" Emily asked dryly after about twenty-five minutes.

"Twenty minutes or so," I said absently.

It took about ten.

Kyle came out looking angry and bitter. No one spoke as I pulled out of the parking and drove us home. As soon as we parked Kyle jumped out of the car and started towards the woods. I grabbed his collar and jerked him towards the house. "Not yet."

He just looked at me with a bewildered face. I knew he felt bad about his conversation in the hospital, but he'd get over it.

**Kyle Peters**

I was nervous as we walked into the house. Carter was furious; Emily was shaken up (a car accident was how her mother died); Julie and Adam were bound to be angry; and Bella was… Bella. No one had any idea what was running through her head. We couldn't even guess within a hundred miles of the mark.

I sat at one end of the dining table which was useful for family meetings though not for its intended purpose. Andrew sat down opposite of me warily and Julie stood behind him with her hands on his shoulders; Carter and Emily sat next to each other on one side and Bella took one of the two remaining chairs on the other side. She looked down at the table, her face unreadable.

"I'm so sorr—" I started.

"First tell us what happened," Adam said calmly.

"A van skidded across the ice, the girl was in the way; it was about to crush her! There wasn't much to do but…" I trailed off in chagrin. Though it was only for putting my family at risk; there was nothing that could make me sorry for saving the girl's life.

"He ran…across the lot, and shoved it out of the way. It left dents in the car, and too information in that girl's head," Carter fumed.

Julie gasped.

"What was I supposed to do?" I asked rhetorically, "Let her die?" No one answered.

"We can't leave this alone! It's a threat that could expose us all!" Carter resumed his previous argument.

"We don't know how much she saw," Emily hedged uneasily.

"Oh, she saw everything," Bella spoke up for the first time, but her voice was wryly bitter.

I glared at her. She was the one who made me talk to her! But how had she known that the girl had seen too much…?

"How do you know that?" Julie snapped at Bella.

Bella looked stunned. "You really don't trust me," she mused. It was more of a statement that a question.

Julie didn't answer.

I interrupted their stare-down. "She's not going to tell anyone, I'm certain of _that_."

Carter spoke slowly, "Kyle, I won't have Emily live in this danger. You don't feel about anyone the way I feel about her," his voice was fervent and I knew he meant it.

Bella let out a bark of dark amusement.

I tried to ignore her. "I'm not arguing that, but I won't let you hurt Abigail Wright." I could tell he was shocked by my determination.

His teeth came together and his jaw was set. "No," he growled.

We glared at each other.

"Are you two done yet?" Bella asked dryly.

Everyone glared at her and she looked taken back. "I'll leave if you want," she said incredulously. I knew she meant leave us for good.

"What do you know?" I asked her scathingly.

"I'll all work out for—" she was using her vague-answer tone so I cut her off.

"Cut the cryptic crap and just tells us whatever it is that you aren't telling us," I was too upset to deal with this tactfully.

She seemed to understand this. "She won't tell anyone, and she'll go with whatever you say the story is. She just wants the truth, the _real_ truth," she said quietly, studying the table.

"How do you know this? You know nothing about this girl!" Julie exploded at her.

Bella smiled blackly and said sourly, "I _was_ that girl."

_**So sorry guys! I'm only 13 and I got grounded from the computer for a week. Then I had basketball and school work. But I just got off for break so I'll be able to get one or two more chapters out. Thanks for hanging in there and I would love for you to review! This is the longest chapter I've written, like ever. **_

_**Everyone have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!!**_

_**=)**_

_**~SuzieQ~**_


	7. Photographs

**Bella Swan**

_Aw crap. I did not mean to say that._

"What do you mean you _were _that girl?" Julie demanded harshly, her temper flaring.

I was not ready to tell them. Maybe someday I would, but not now.

"I grew up surrounded by the supernatural," I said slowly. This was not a lie, so Julie would be placated.

"What. Do. You. Know?" Kyle said, enunciating each word, his expression livid.

I looked up at him with sad eyes. "You're going to love her Kyle. You can't fight it."

He stumbled backwards, his eyes wide. "W-w-what?" he stuttered.

"Think about it," I urged him. "Think about leaving."

He grimaced.

"Fall in love? With the girl he saved?" Emily asked, shock evident in her tone.

"There are only two ways for her. Either he'll kill her, or she'll be one of us one day," I said miserably. When she was one of us hopefully she wouldn't be like me, though.

A few gasps came from the room. I didn't even look to see who.

"How do you know? Are you psychic?" Carter asked skeptically.

I considered that for a moment. "Circumstantially."

"What is going on with you?" Julie said. "All of the sudden there's this mysterious past you always lie about, suddenly you're best friends with a werewolf, and now you're _psychic_?" her voice got higher at the end.

I turned away from her.

"_What!? What_ Bella? _What the hell is going on with you?!_" She fumed.

"Easy Jules," Adam whispered in her ear.

I still didn't answer.

"I don't know what is going on but—" Julie started.

I cut her off. "No," I agreed, "you _don't_ know. What right do you have to assume…" I choked off, unable to continue. I took a few unnecessary deep breaths to calm myself. "What is going on with me doesn't affect what's happening now. The point is that I know what I know and now you know. No one's going to hurt her. I don't want this to come to a fight."

"A fight?" Carter tried to keep his voice level.

I turned to him. "Do you think Kyle will just sit down and let you kill her?"

I watched as Kyle's eyes flashed when I said "kill her".

No one said anything.

"I think we're done here," I said authoritatively. "I'm going hunting."

"So am I," Kyle said absently. I glanced at him and nodded.

**Kyle Peters**

As we ran through the forest, my mind was reeling.

Did I love the girl?

I did not think so. Not yet, at least. But I could see how easy it would be to fall in love with her. Just like falling; effortless.

I could also see the two futures. Loving her would not keep me from killing her, but it would be a terrible accident; a slip up.

The only way she would become one of us was if she was changed, clearly. But changed by _who_? Was I selfish enough to change her for myself?

"Bella?" I said tentatively. She seemed to understand my reluctance. She put her half-drained deer down and raised one eyebrow.

"Have you ever…slipped up? You know…" I asked reluctantly.

Her eyes were suddenly pained. It took her a moment to answer. "Almost," she admitted.

I looked at her questioningly. She sighed.

"It was when I was only a couple of years old. There was fresh blood; a little girl fell out of a tree and scraped her knee. It was so powerful, so inviting that I just…I had her under me. I was going to…but then I saw the look in her big, brown eyes. I saw myself, the day I was changed. I know what it's like to be on the other side; to be the prey. I just ran away." She looked down shamefully.

"That's amazing," I said with awe. Not many had that amount of restraint. "Why are you ashamed?"

She looked up with a stubborn face. "Because I swore it would never happen. Ever."

I didn't say anymore and we both continued silently. Meanwhile I chewed over what she said. _I know what it's like to be the prey_. Most never knew what was coming until it was too late. Then I remember what she said about the werewolves; _they existed to protect_. Why would she need protection? Maybe if she was prey…

A piece of the puzzle clicked together and the mystery started to unravel.

**Abby Wright**

It had been six weeks since I had even talked to Kyle. We ignored each other totally and I wondered if he thought about it like I did.

I hadn't told a soul about what really happened, and yes, it really happened. We never made contact except when absolutely necessary, for labs and things like that. It was in these periods of time that I started to notice patterns. He often missed the days with the nicest weather. When I had asked someone about it they had said that when the whether was nice, they all went backpacking. His eyes were almost never black anymore; they were always the lightest shade of gold, whereas his families ranged frequently from pitch black to butterscotch.

It was pathetic.

One day in biology his sister, Bella came in with a slip of paper in her hand. She knocked on the open door quietly. Mr. Gordon turned mid-lecture to her and said, "Yes?"

"I'm here for Kyle," she said to the teacher. Then she turned to Kyle. "Mom called, said it was important. We're going home. I have a note from Mrs. White." She said the last part to Mr. Gordon and walked with a graceful lope that was so fluid I couldn't help but gawk and she handed the slip to the teacher. He read it quickly and grunted.

"You have the assignment written down?" he said to Kyle.

"Yes," Kyle said. His eyes flickered to the windows and he started packing up his books. I noticed he made an effort not to look at me as did I. I heard a quiet snicker. I looked up and saw Bella trying to cover up her smile. I blushed and looked down. I didn't even hear their footsteps as they walked out of the room.

**Bella Swan**

I couldn't help but laugh as I saw Kyle and Abby purposefully ignore each other. She looked up and I tried not to smile. She blushed anyway and looked down.

When we were out in the hallway I laughed.

"Are you guys having a fight?" I teased him, but there was an edge to my voice.

He smacked my books out of my hand and kept walking.

"I'll take that as a 'yes,'" I murmured to myself.

"Why are you so smug?" he turned around and demanded.

"Because it's funny how you two think that that'll work," I explained. I had gathered my books and was beside him again.

"Do you really think she even likes me? It's impossible even if she didn't know the truth," his voice was hard.

"It's inevitable!" I said, exasperated. "Jeez! She's thinking the same thing!"

"Oh, so now you're a mind reader, too?" he said sarcastically.

I winced at the painful memories that brought up and tried to fight them back.

"Sorry," he muttered.

We slid into the car where Emily and Carter were already waiting.

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

The next day we were back at school, freed from the sunny weather.

When we were driving he had a frustrated look was on his face and he was hardly paying attention to the road.

That night he two of us went hunting.

"Who asked her on a date?" I asked.

He shot me a glare.

"You know…" I said, trying to get his attention, "she talks in her sleep. All of those unprotected secrets, a chance to hear what she's thinking about, they're just a quick jog away…" I let the offer sit there. He was internally debating—I could see it on his face.

"Get out of here. I'm sick of your moping anyway," I dismissed him with a wave of my hand. He gave me a grateful look.

I sighed and leaned against a tree.

_What have I gotten us into to?_

**Kyle Peters**

Bella had been right all along.

Since that first time I had heard her say my name in her sleep, I could no longer pretend I was only _in danger of_ loving Abby.

As I felt myself gaining life and become more even-tempered, it was as if the life I gained was being drained out of Bella. Every day her smile became more forced. She rarely hunted, her eyes becoming a dull black. I wanted to know _why_. What could have happened to cause her so much misery?

I finally got my answer.

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

The day after my revelation, I was sitting at lunch with Abby. We had already covered that it was new and how she was tired of all of the answers I gave that made no sense, after she assured me that they did, in fact- make no sense to her.

She looked down at her water bottle cap and spun it on the table. I could see on her face that she was thinking very hard about something.

"What are you thinking?" I finally asked when I could take it no more.

She opened her mouth to speak but before she could, we both heard a shattering sound. I turned around in my chair and saw Bella looking down at the shattered remains of what used to be a glass of water. Both of her hands were clenched into fists, only one held fine, gritty pieces of the glass she crushed into a powder.

The whole cafeteria watched as she pushed her chair out as she stood up and walked briskly out of the cafeteria. No one noticed when she threw the powder into a small trashcan as she left.

"What…" Abby said, bewildered.

"I don't know," I said uncertainly.

**Bella Swan**

Whose idea of a sick joke was this? As I strode out of the room I could feel my body shaking and tried to conceal it. I walked up to the office window.

"Mrs. White?" I called the attention of the little woman.

"What can I do for you, Bella?" she asked in a kindly concerned voice.

"I'm not feeling quite well. Do you think I could get one of my siblings to drive me home?" I said in a strange tone I didn't recognize.

"Of course, dear," she said. "You feel better."

Emily and Carter came out of the cafeteria right on queue.

"Are you okay, Bells?" Emily asked.

"I'm not feeling well. Could you drive me home?" I said quietly.

"Of course," she said quietly, for the sake of Mrs. White. I would get hell for this in the car.

When we got in the car, surprisingly, Emily didn't say anything. And for that, I was grateful. As soon as she reached the top of the driveway, I ran until my sobs overtook me and I sank to the ground.

**Kyle Peters**

A soon as I got home, I ran to find Bella. I couldn't find her anywhere. Instead, I went up in the attic to look for my old pictures and things.

While shuffling around in the boxes I found a medium sized one that was unmarked and sealed. Curiously, I tore off the tape and opened it up, releasing a gust of dust.

Inside was a variety of things; CDs along with other things. Most prominent was a thick photo album sitting on top.

I opened up the first page and gasped at what I saw.

He was clearly a vampire. The pale skin and golden eyes gave it away. His hair was reddish-brown in color and styled in a casual disarray. Underneath the photo, in messy handwriting were the words: _Edward Cullen, Charlie's kitchen, Sept. 13__th_.

I flipped to the next page. My eyes grew wide.

The heading of the two-page-spread was "The Many Faces of Edward & Bella".

In the first one, the one who must be Edward stood next to _another_ vampire. This one was very short with black hair that spiked out in all directions. Edward was smiling widely and his hand was reached out. There was another arm reaching for it. When I saw the person attached to the arm, my jaw dropped. It was Bella; a _human_ Bella. Her face was lit up like… I couldn't even explain. In a neat and curly script it said, _The Love-Love_. Under that in flawless handwriting it said, _Edward, Alice and Bella_.

The next picture showed Edward still smiling widely, the short vampire, Alice, had her head thrown back and it looked like she was laughing. Bella, however, had a scowl on her face, glaring at Edward. Under it read, _The Love-Hate_. I smiled.

The next one was at a different place altogether, a small kitchen. This time, Bella was the one smiling and Edward's eyes were narrowed into slits. The caption read, _The Hate-Love_.

I turned to the next page. I had lots of pictures of human faces. Some were in twos and threes, others groups of five and six. Under them were names like, _Jessica_,_ Mike_,_ Angela_,_ Ben_, _Lauren_, and my personal favorite; _Lauren when she found out this was Bella's camera_. Lauren's face was pulled into an unfriendly scowl. I chuckled at that one.

There was one of Bell's room and The Cullen House and Forks High School. I turned to the next page and there were two more vampires. One had fair hair and was wearing a doctor's coat. He had his arms around one with a loving smile and soft, caramel hair. They were identified as _Carlisle and Esme_. After them was Alice perched on the back of a tall vampire with honey blonde hair. Both had golden eyes and brilliant smiles. The names scrawled under them were, _Alice and Jasper_. After them there was another couple. The male was huge, even for vampire standards. His arms were bulky and his curly, dark hair didn't fit with his goofy smile. His arms were wrapped round a beautiful blonde vampire who looked up at him like she couldn't help but smile. _Emmett and Rosalie_, was written under that. I turned the page and the next one was of Edward pressing his lips gently to Bella's. The last one had their foreheads leaned together with them gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. I turned the page and the spread was blank. The book had a few pages left so I turned to the next one to make sure. Surprisingly, the next page did hold a few pictures. One was of Bella with large burly boy. He had deeply tanned skin and short black hair. Then I looked at Bella and gasped.

It _was _Bella, but she looked so _different_. Her skin had a grey tint to it and there were dark rings around her eyes. She had a small smile on her lips, but you couldn't see it in her darker-brown eyes. It looked like she had lost a lot of weight and her hair was darker, too.

She was looking at the boy and had one hand risen to flick his ear. I leaned in closer and saw a silver crescent on the side off her hand. Of course I had noticed it before, but we all had our fair share of those. How could she have been bitten, but still be human…? Under the picture it said, _Jacob Black and Bella_. So _that_ was Bella's best friend.

I turned to the next picture. There was a large russet-brown wolf that looked almost identical to the one we saw that day on the beach. It said _Jacob_ under it, too.

The remaining pictures were two motorcycles and various different beaches and houses and places down in La Push. I closed the album and thought about everything I had just discovered.

My head was spinning with this revelation.

Her words echoed in my head. _I was that girl_.

She was; the girl who fell in love with a vampire.

I couldn't help but feel ecstatic for selfish reasons that maybe Abby _could _love me back.

_It's impossible_, I had said. _It's inevitable!_ Bella had shouted at me.

Then I froze in place. _The Cullens_.

That's how she knew them.

Oh.

Oh.

_Oh_.

I placed the album back in the box and picked up the clear jewel CD case. It had no labeling, no indication of what was on it.

I stood up and walked to my room. I opened my CD player and placed it in the slot and closed it. I held my breath as I pushed play.

Soft notes from a piano came out from the speakers. The melody was slow and lulling.

It was a beautiful piece.

I heard everyone stop what they were doing. Julie stopped loading the dryer, Adam stopped talking to her and someone muted the TV. Then Julie, Adam, Emily and Carter appeared in doorway.

"What is that?" Julie asked.

"It's beautiful," Emily said in awe.

After a minute, I answered her. "It's a CD."

"My lullaby," Bella said from behind everyone.

We all turned around at the sound of her voice since none of us heard her entrance. She was leaning against the door jam, eyes closed and tears streaming down her face. There was a small smile on her face.

The song changed then. She opened her eyes. "Esme's favorite," she murmured.

"Bella," I choked out. She just shook her head and walked over to my stereo. She pushed eject and placed the CD carefully in its case. She walked slowly to the attic and jumped up into it. I heard the tearing of tape and I assumed she was resealing the box. Before I could say anything to her she was out the door and in the forest. The others were stunned because vampires aren't supposed to be able to cry.

"What happened?" Julie asked in a sad and guilty voice.

I told them everything I saw.

Julie looked extremely guilty, which she should have. She had distrusted Bella after everything she did for them.

None of us knew if she was coming back.

_**Wowza! (real word? Spell check doesn't seem to think so!)**_

_**There so much tension…and then nothing happened. But then something did happen!**_

_**So now they know what's been bugging Bella and Julie feels all guilty (which she should. She was bitching (funny word!) and never stopped to consider Bella's side =[ ).**_

_**Luv you guys who keep reviewing! Sorry it took so long to update, but it was a reeeally long chapter!**_

_**Hope everyone had awesome holidays! Unfortunately, I go back to school on Monday =( so the updates will be once a week if it's a good week. This coming week I have (for basketball): practice Monday and games Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday plus we're doing the eighth grade science fair so please don't give up in me!**_

_**Random question, but what does AWOL mean? Like what does it stand for?**_

_**Just wondering.**_

_**Please review!**_

_**~SuzieQ~**_


	8. Questions

_**Please read author's note at the bottom!**_

_**~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~**_

**Bella Swan**

It took me hours to pull myself together. I couldn't understand this.

Hadn't I suffered enough? As if having to live forever without the one I love isn't enough to kill me, I would have to watch the part of my life I missed more than anything happen again. But I couldn't hide in the forest forever, as I wished to.

As I approached the house I heard a familiar tune float from the second story. I froze.

I had found the CD along with the plane tickets and pictures under the floorboards upon my return to gather some of my things. I had figured that he had run out of time before…

I put it, along with the scrapbook I put back together, in a sealed box up in the attic.

Which meant someone knew. What did they think when they saw a human and a vampire together followed by six other vampires? And after all of those pictures was the one of us… I couldn't think of it without breaking down again.

"What is that?" Julie asked from the second story. Well, Julie didn't know.

I ghosted up the stairs following the soothing music. It led to Kyle's room.

"A CD," he answered blankly.

"My lullaby," I said as I leaned against the doorframe. I could feel the tears streaming down my face.

Then the song changed. I recognized the tune instantly. "Esme's favorite," I said quietly.

"Bella," Kyle said in a choked voice and I knew he was probably would have given some apology or something so I just shook my head. The soft notes brought back memories I was desperately trying to avoid. I walked over to the stereo and ejected the CD. Then I jumped up into the attic and laid it back in the box. The album was half opened to the first page. I took the picture carefully out of the metal corners and studied it.

He looked as close to the real thing as I would ever get and that was too much. I put it back in quickly and sealed the box with a roll of tape.

Before anyone said anything, I was already running.

**Julie Madison **

I watched as Bella disappeared into the woods and felt guiltier than ever. All she had ever done was help me and all I had done was distrust her and get angry.

And she was _crying_.

When Kyle told me what he found up in that box, at first, I didn't believe it (the paranoia talking) but it all clicked into place. Every cryptic comment, every wince, every distorted face now had a meaning.

Now we wanted know how. How did a vampire fall in love with a human? How does a _human_ fall in love with a vampire?

Did Bella know she was going out with a vampire? No sane person would stick round once they found out the truth. But Kyle said the scar she had her hand was unmistakably a vampire bite. But still…we didn't know.

We didn't even know if she was ever coming home.

"We have to find her," I said quietly. Everyone nodded.

We followed her scent since Kyle's tracking skills didn't work on her. It went about thirty miles before we found her in a ball on the ground, crying her eyes out.

Although I had always posed as the mother of the family, never did I have to act like one.

I put my arms around her shoulders and pulled her off the ground and held her as she sobbed. She didn't even acknowledge our presence.

After a while she sobbed out, "I'm…sorry I didn't… tell you."

Emily stroked her hair. "You have nothing to be sorry for. Do you want to talk about it?" Emily tried to keep the curiosity out of her voice without success.

Bella's sobs became softer, muffled. "No. But I know you want to know."

"You don't have to," I said.

Bella sat up straight. "It doesn't matter. Ask me."

We hesitated. "Did you know?" Emily asked.

Bella nodded.

"How?" Carter asked in shock.

Bell smiled wryly. "I told you. I hung out at La Push. Heard some old legends and stuff."

"The scar on your hand?" Kyle asked. Bella raised her eyebrows like she expected a different question.

"A tracker. We were just playing baseball, well _they_ were. I was watching." She took a deep breath. "Alice was a psychic believe it or not. Earlier that day she had seen that some…visitors would be in the area soon, but she only sees the course someone's on. They heard the game and wanted to join.

"Alice and Jasper took me down to Phoenix, but the tracker knew that. He told me he had my mom, so I went to meet him. My mom was in Florida, so the house was empty. He went there. Watched our old movies and—" she stopped.

"I survived, but he bit me." Her voice then turned to awe, "I don't know how he did it. He didn't even know how."

"Hang on—what?" carter said, confused.

She took another breath. "He sucked the venom back out. Even though my blood—just like Abby. It was like wine next to water.

"They killed the tracker, but Victoria was pretty pissed—" she went on.

"_Victoria_?" Emily gasped. "The one that…"

Bella nodded. "She was angry that he killed James that she thought it would be fair mate for mate." Her expression became agonized, but she pulled it together. "But of course he wasn't around so…this was even worse. She just pricked my finger. I was out for five days."

No one said anything.

"What happened," I said quietly.

Her body started shaking violently and her breath was ragged. "Gone," she said miserably. "He was tired of pretending to be something he's wasn't; human."

"You haven't been like this for a while. Is it getting any better?" I asked.

She shook her head and let out a sob. "Every day it gets worse, I just get better at hiding it."

"He doesn't—" I tried to tell her she deserved better, but she cut me off.

"It's my fault I'm like this."

"How?" I breathed.

"My entire existence is someone's idea of a sick joke!" She looked up at the sky with desolate eyes. "Because I wanted to be a vampire."

Someone gasped.

"That's what I said," she went on. "It's like wishing with a genie; you have to word it very carefully." She looked at us then. "I didn't want this. I wanted…I wanted to be with him forever, and I was willing to become this for it. He always looked at himself like a monster, but I always told him he wasn't. I just…I don't know anything anymore."

It was silent and tears kept streaming down her face.

"And the others?" Emily asked.

Bella smiled, her eyes still closed. "Alice was like a sister to me—she forced me into things I never wanted to do like prom and high heeled shoes. Emmett was like the big, scary brother I never wanted. Maybe he just liked me because I fell down and attracted the best fights." She frowned. "Rosalie didn't like me…at all." Then her expression brightened. "Esme always treated me like her daughter, and in a way she was like a mother to me—which was…nice, because I always had to act like the mom in my house."

"Carlisle?" I prompted.

Her smile became admiring. "He is one of the best people I know to this day, vampire or otherwise. For centuries he tortured himself with temptation so that he could work and treat humans without fear of ever losing control. I don't think he's ever slipped up."

"Wait, what about Jasper?" Carter interjected.

Bella' expression became of sheer torture, but she pulled it together again. "He came from a very different kind of family. His feeding habits were…different…I never really got the whole story, but he still had to work on his control, but he seemed okay.

She didn't even try to stop the anguish from coming onto her face.

"My eighteenth birthday. Alice threw me a party against my wishes." She didn't even smile with amusement. Then her voice grew so quiet we hardly heard it. "It was just a paper cut," she squeaked. "One, little drop of blood. Jasper…" she trailed off.

I was frozen in shock.

"There all out there still…somewhere." Her voice was ragged.

"Where does Jacob fit into all of this?" Kyle asked, his face bone white.

"He's the one who told me the legend, before he believed in any of it. I hung out with him a lot and then…he was a werewolf," she said mechanically.

No one had anything else to say.

We just sat there until the sun came up.

"Time for school," Kyle muttered.

**Bella Swan**

These days I didn't even notice the time passing. Every day was a blur and nothing changed. I marked time by Kyle and Abby's relationship.

I thought it would feel good to have everything laid out on the table—no more secrets—but instead, they just had to suffer with me.

I realized how much time had passed when Kyle announced he was bringing Abby to meet us. Everyone glanced at me, but there was rarely any emotion on my face anymore.

When she arrived, everyone wasn't really sure how to come forward. But it seemed to go the way it did my first time.

I was out back sitting on a low branch of a tree, watching the sunset and they were walking along the stream, fingers interlocked. My chest started aching by just looking at them, but I would never tell them that.

"Hey, Bella," Kyle said to me.

"Kyle, Abby," I greeted them with a smile on my face.

"Hi, Bella," Abby said shyly.

"Has anyone scared her off yet?" I asked coyly.

"Not yet," he sighed, waiting for it to happen.

I laughed. "She doesn't scare easily, and that won't change."

Abby smiled, feeling a bit more comfortable. "I keep telling him that but he doesn't listen to me."

I smiled. "Anytime you want to hit him without breaking your hand, just tell me; I'll do it for you."

She laughed.

I tried to ignore the throbbing in my chest, but my face must have given it away.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

I sighed and shook my head. "When am I ever okay?" I said, averting my eyes.

Abby looked at Kyle questioningly, but she clearly didn't want to pry.

I jumped down. "Go ahead. She deserves to know. I'm going…" I hesitated.

"Hunting?" Abby said, not the least bit shy of the word. I smiled and took off.

_**Sorry this is such a short chapter, but I wanted to get one more out before the week started. The only free day I have this coming week is Thursday so it may be a week before I get out the next one.**_

_**For everyone who asked:**_

_**YES THE CULLENS ARE COMING INTO THE STORY!!!**_

_**They will be appearing in either the next chapter or the one after that. Seriously guys, give me a break!**_

_**A few announcements:**_

_**~Thank you to All the Pretty Horses who has enlightened me on the meaning of AWOL. It means: absent without leave. Whoooo!**_

_**~And now I will provide a bit of useless trivia for you. The word "Posh" means the best of the best. It was originally an abbreviation. It stood for "port outward, starboard homebound". On a cruise ship, the best cabins were the ones with the sea breeze. **__**Outward**__** from the port, the breeze came from the **__**port**__** (left side); therefore those were the best to stay in. But **__**homebound**__** (coming home [opposite direction]) the breeze came from the **__**starboard**__** (right) side, so those were the best to stay in. **_

_**So there you have it! Posh.**_

_**~ last but not least, a recommendation.**_

_**I read a beautiful little short that had been posted in January 2008 and only had 7 reviews, and one was my own. I recommend it to all of you and ask you take five minutes to read it.**_

_**It is called **__**There Is A Number Of Small Things**__** and it is by abstraction**_

_**Here is the link: .net/s/4038600/1/There_Is_A_Number_of_Small_Things**_

_**~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~**_

_**I love all of you who review so keep doing it!**_

_**~SuzieQ~**_


	9. Old and New Scars

_**Please read author's note at the bottom. So sorry!**_

_**~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~**_

**Abby Wright**

After Kyle told me about Bella, I think it took a minute to blink. I felt awful, but Kyle, super-being or not, was a male, and therefore clueless.

"Just because she was miserable then has nothing to do with now. I don't understand why she's taking this so hard! Just because one-upon-a-time they were in love doesn't mean that—" I cut him off mid rant.

"Kyle," I chastised him softly, "Of course she still loves him."

He looked at me bewilderedly.

I started at him dubiously. "You mean you didn't know that!?" I exclaimed.

"But he hurt her so much…" he trailed off sadly.

"That isn't anything anyone could get over easily, if at all," I said softly, looking down. Kyle crushed me lightly to his chest and it did not escape my heart's notice. He stroked my hair, but didn't say anything; we didn't have to. We were both scared. It seemed very obvious that history was repeating itself, but to what extent? I tried to change the subject slightly.

"Why did she react that way in the cafeteria?" I asked him.

"I never asked her," His tone was puzzled. "I don't know if I should," he added quietly.

I nodded in understanding. It went on like that for a while. Then we both noticed the setting sun as it bounced off of Kyle's skin throwing rainbows across mine. I smiled and he grimaced slightly.

"I should get you home," he said, putting his hand on the side of my face gently, because to him, I was as fragile as a soap bubble. I instinctively leaned into his hand and closed my eyes. I nodded wordlessly.

**Bella Swan**

Why I didn't see it coming was beyond me.

We were all just hanging out by the mountains as we often did. I heard them before I saw them.

I blanched. "No," I whispered in horror. I darted over to Abby and gently pulled her ponytail out at shook her hair around her face. "Don't move, don't talk and breathe very quietly," I said in a low voice. Everyone else arranged themselves in front of her, catching on quickly. I heard Kyle mutter a quick, desperate apology to Abby.

They emerged one by one from the forest edge, ranging a dozen meters apart. The first male into the clearing fell back immediately, allowing the other male to take the front, orienting himself around the tall, dark-haired man in a manner that clearly displayed who led the pack.

I fought back a hiss.

The third was a woman. Her hair was a deep chocolate, opposed to the fiery red I was expecting.

We stared at each other warily, analyzing any possible threat. Then the leading male smiled.

The dark haired man spoke. "I am William. This is Riley," he said, gesturing to the male, "and Hazel," he said, referring to the unsmiling female.

I was standing at the point of our group; therefore I had to do the talking. "My name is Bella and this is my family; Julie and Adam, Emily and Carter, and Abby and Kyle. How can we help you?" I kept my tone cordial, even though I was seething under the surface.

"We are travelers. We were just in the neighborhood and wanted to see who ran into." William matched my tone completely.

"I see," there was no malice in my voice. "We keep a permanent residence nearby. Also, please refrain from hunting in our range. We must stay inconspicuous, you understand."

"Of course, we don't want to cause you any trouble," his eyes were wide, innocent. I held back a sarcastic laugh. He went on. "A permanent residence? How do you manage that?" he seemed genuinely interested.

"Why don't you come with us back to our home? It's a bit of long story." I laughed softly, making sure it sounded real. But I knew it wouldn't take long; there was no way we could get off the hook that easy.

Suddenly, the male, Riley's, ruby red eyes went wide and his nostrils flared. He gazed past me but I took a deliberate step in his line of sight and he met my icy gaze. Hazel looked between us curiously, but I could see her sizing me up.

William looked confused but didn't dare turn his back on us. Everyone behind me was tense.

Then, expectedly, Riley's eyes became angelic. "Of course. Give us a bit to…regroup and we'd love to accept your offer."

I made my face look relieved. "Of course. Just run about fifteen miles or so southeast and then you should easily pick up on our trails." I smiled, no trace of doubt on my face. Riley nodded and smiled amiably. They all backed off slowly into the trees, then turned and sprinted away.

I immediately turned around. "Julie, Adam," I turned to them, "Run home and be careful. If William comes alone let him in but don't let your guard down. Actually, Carter, you go with them. We can't spread ourselves too thin." I turned to a very anxious Kyle and confused Abby. "Emily come with us, we need back up." I never took my eyes off of Abby.

"Do you know exactly—" Julie hissed, too low for Abby to hear, but I cut her off by pressing my finger to my lips. They could be close enough to hear us.

"Kyle, Emily," I called their attention to me; "we're taking the car."

They nodded. "Come on," Kyle whispered to Abby as he ushered her forward.

"What's going on," she hissed back, but didn't stop walking. "What's wrong?"

"I'll explain in a minute," he muttered, his voice furious. She didn't say anything.

"Kyle, we don't have time! Pick her up and run!" I called from where Emily and I had stopped to wait for them.

Kyle, with Abby on his back, ran between us, a good ten feet way from both of us.

After a minute, we reached the Jeep. "I'm driving," I warned Kyle as he put Abby in the back seat. He didn't argue. Emily slid in next to Abby. "Strap her in," I ordered. She swiftly fastened all of the buckles.

My mind was racing and so was Abby's, understandably.

"What is going on!?" she cried, exasperated.

No one said anything.

I glanced at Kyle and he didn't look like he would.

"Well tell her! I have to think," I growled.

"I don't know what _is_ going on," he snapped.

"Like hell you don't," I growled, fed up.

"Maybe _you_'d like to tell_ us_ what's going on Ms. All-Knowing-One," he replied in a sarcastic, furious voice.

"You know what, Kyle; just _shut it_ because I'm the only one who knows how to _win_. Because that's all this is to him; a_ game_." My voice whipped out low and severe.

He steadily glared at me. "Maybe if you had just—"

"You think this is _my_ fault!?" I asked incredulously.

"Well—" This time Emily cut him off.

"Both of you stop it! This isn't helping! Bella, pay attention to the road and keep thinking. And Kyle, _shut the hell up_ because we _all_ know what's happening and no one's happy right now and you know damn well that Bella is probably the _only_ one who knows how to solve this, so just _shut up_!"

I ignored the exchange. "Emily, will _you_ please explain to her what's going on?" I said.

"You know what Kyle can do right?" Emily asked her. Abby nodded. "The term 'tracker' is both a classification and a hobby. It's a term used to classify the gift he has, in his case. There are also vampires who get…bored. They need something to keep them entertained after the first hundred years or so."

"Some others," I cut in, "just like the game. They live for a challenge. Suddenly we've presented him with a beautiful challenge — large clan of strong fighters all bent on protecting one vulnerable element. It's his favorite game and we've just made it his most exciting game ever."

By that time we had pulled up on Abby's street. I cut the engine and turned around. "Listen to me very closely," I said to Abby in a low voice. "Kyle will walk you to the door and I think you know what to do then. Tell your dad you want to go home that instant, no matter what you say just make sure you can leave — mention your mom — but you need to make sure he doesn't suspect you're with Kyle. As soon as you're inside, pack a bag with anything you can. Kyle will be in your room as soon as you slam the door in his face." She didn't even seem shocked by the fact that I had guessed her plan. "We'll be around the house making sure the coast is clear. Kyle will drive you to our house after that and we'll go from there. Got it? Good. Go," I gave her a small push out the door. Kyle already had it open for her and pulled her close to him.

"Let's go," I said to Emily and we circled Abby's house.

As Kyle furiously drove back to our house, Emily and I shadowed the car.

When we arrived, not surprisingly, William was there standing with Adam, Julie and Carter. Kyle's glare could have possibly set him on fire. I wanted to skip the theatrics and get right down to business.

"Riley; does he have any special talents? Powers? Abilities? Anything?" I asked William.

William deliberated. "Well…not really, no. Well…maybe…" he hedged. Then he seemed to have decided. "We weren't entirely sure. He seemed to just have a feeling about his prey. It is nothing concrete or guaranteed."

I nodded.

"Is there anything you can do to stop him?" Julie pleaded.

William shook his head grimly. "Nothing stops him when he gets started."

"We'll stop him," Carter guaranteed him.

"You can't bring him down. I've never seen anything like him in my three hundred years. He has unparalleled senses; absolutely lethal. That's why I joined his coven," he said, shaking his head. "Are you sure it's worth—"

"Say 'it' I dare you," I warned him. Then I sighed. "You're going to have to make a choice."

He understood. He deliberated for a moment. His eyes took in every face, and finally swept the bright room.

"I'm intrigued by the life you have created here, but I won't get in the middle of this. I bear none of you any enmity, but I won't go up against Riley. I think I will travel on my own. And I _am_ truly sorry for what had been inflicted on you." He bowed his head, but flicked a curious glance at Abby.

"Leave in peace," I said formally. He took a step towards the door. "Oh, and I would advise staying away from the beach," I threw to him casually. He nodded and left.

"You're just letting him leave?" Kyle hissed.

"He meant what he said. But the female _will_ help, and give us hell for this afterwards. Riley will send her digging around the town. Kyle, Adam and Carter will head up north and he'll follow you there. Emily and I will take her down south to Arizona."

"But he'll know. He heard us say that," Emily contradicted.

"Exactly; the last place he'd think we'd ever go is the place we said we'd go. He'll also assume that Kyle will be wherever Abby is, so if Kyle goes north, so will the tracker," I explained. "Abby, go upstairs and switch clothes with Julie." Julie nodded and rushed Abby up the stairs. They came back down the stairs just moments later.

"Now what?" Julie asked me. It seemed like everyone was on my side now.

"Take her car down towards La Push; the female will follow you. Then Emily and I will run her south." Everyone nodded. "Kyle." He looked at me. "As soon as he starts heading south — and this is _vital_ to the plan — give him one _hour_. Then get on a plane to Arizona. If any of you need to call me, call Emily first," I said as I tossed a cell phone to Kyle, Julie and Emily and then slipped one in my pocket.

"You know what's going to happen, don't you?" Carter asked me. They all looked at me expectantly.

"I know the path we're on. If he finds out we know his plan, if he changes _one_ thing in his plan: we lose. The game only works if we know his cards. But don't make that you lax or complacent; be careful. But we have to go now," I said quietly.

Kyle started snarling about how he'd kill Riley if anything happened to Abby, but it was too low for her to hear.

I gripped Kyle's shoulder. "Kyle!" I cried, "He doesn't want her." I enunciated each word.

"What are you talking about?" his voice was low and severe.

I looked at him with a desolate expression. "There's nothing exceptional about snapping one pathetic human neck." I turned away from him angrily, my own memories flooding my mind. He glared at me incredulously, but then his expression become sad — it seemed he realized I wasn't talking about Abby, and I hoped she knew that too.

"Wait! You said the female will be digging around; for my scent right? It'll lead her right to me dad!" Abby cried out, shaking violently.

I put a hand on her shoulder. "Julie will watch him. Everything will be fine," I soothed her.

"I'll get the bags," Emily said, grabbing the bags and sprinting to the car.

I looked at the time. "Kyle, Carter, Adam — time to go."

In one swift movement, Kyle crushed his lips to Abby's and then he was gone a second later. I turned away as I remembered that final goodbye kiss, not knowing if we would ever see each other again… I stopped myself before I got started, but I felt a lone tear slide down my face.

Emily popped back into the room. "Let's go," I said.

Emily picked up Abby and we ran to the car.

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

Abby looked out of it as we sped away from the airport in Arizona. When we checked into the hotel I turned to Emily.

"Hold this for me, would you?" I handed Emily my phone.

"Where are you going?" she asked, shooting a worried glance at Abby.

"The bathroom," I told her with a loaded glance. She nodded, knowing that I knew something she didn't and shouldn't know.

I strode out of the hotel and into the night. I breathed in the dry air that was clogged with the scent of hundreds of humans, causing a dull ache in my throat, for it had been weeks since I had hunted.

_Home sweet home_, I thought wryly.

**Abby Wright**

I closed my eyes, but found no rest. My love and his family were risking their lives for 'one pathetic human neck'.

I remembered the oath I took the previous day. _I love you. I will always love you, no matter what happens now_.

I stood true to that and I always would, and that scared me. It scared me that might one day be necessary, that something might happen to test that claim, though I knew it would always be true.

And I was scared for Bella. Where was she? What did she know? I knew now that she had been in my shoes before, but she had also been _here _before: under the protection of the one she would always love and hiding from the one who wished to take that away. Did she win in the end? Which games has she played? Which games _hasn't_ she played?

_Kyle will be here soon_, I tried to reassure myself. But the other half of me wasn't optimistic. _But how long will he stay?_

**Bella Swan**

I sat in a closet in the ballet studio not breathing, not moving; only waiting and listening. I sat completely still and didn't react once I heard Riley's footsteps enter the building. I was not breathing, nor did I have a heartbeat and I was not moving, so he didn't know I was there. I heard the voices as he ran one of Abby's home videos. _This is it_, I thought.

About a day and a half later, I heard the frantic footsteps of Abby outside the studio. I heard the click as Riley turned on the video with the remote. Then, I heard Abby clunking clumsily up the stairs, hearing her mother's frantic cries. I winced internally.

I knew when she breezed right by Riley's figure, standing right next to the door in the shadows, waiting. She skidded to a stop and I assumed she was looking around, confused when she saw no one. Another click and the TV shut off. Abby turned around.

Silence.

Then the feathery light steps of the tracker reached my ears, almost drowned out the loud thumping of Abby's heart.

"Sorry about that, but I thought it better not to involve your mother. Don't you agree?" Riley said in a calm and courteous voice.

Abby didn't answer for a moment and I could practically smell the relief washing off her. "Yes," she said, her voice saturated with relief.

"You don't seem angry that I tricked you," Riley speculated.

"I'm not," her voice was still happy.

"How odd," Riley mused. "You really mean it. I will give your strange coven this much; you humans can be quite interesting. It's amazing — some of you seem to have no sense of your own self-interest at all." Again, silence, both of them in their own thoughts.

Then he sighed. "This is really quite disappointing." There was a pause as he gauged her expression. "You see, this was all a bit too quick, too easy. And I don't get a game like this often." I could practically hear his pout, but this was my cue.

In a sixteenth of a second I was in the room standing face to face with Riley. "Perhaps I could make it a bit more…interesting?" I suggested, as if we were talking about a simple card game.

Riley staggered backwards.

"H-h-how did…" he was stunned into silence. But then he regained his composure. "I see you did _not_ come alone," he said to Abby. His face looked like people did when their annoying neighbors show up to the barbeque you 'forgot' to invite them to.

Abby opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

"Actually I was here before you were." I saw his eyes glint with anger and surprise. "Maybe it's just that you've been at the game for so long you've become…predictable." I smiled angelically.

He snarled. "How. Did. You. Know?" he seethed.

I held up my hand in front of me — showing him my scar. "I walked around with this scar for over a year as a human." His eyes widened.

"So… you knew exactly what I would plan because all of this happened to you when you were human," his tone suggested a second part to this speech. I just nodded. "Well then, where is _your_ mate?" his tone was innocent. I flinched but didn't break eye contact. "Gone?" I didn't respond. "Pity…" he muttered to himself.

"That being said…you have two choices. You could leave now, and as long as you don't show your face again, nobody will harm you. Or…you could stay, fight and die like it happened before. Your choice." I was in no mood to play games and I put myself directly in-between him and Abby, who stood motionless in shock.

Riley smiled coyly. "But as you can clearly see, the circumstances have changed dramatically, so perhaps there are options that did not exist before," he suggested.

I snarled and slipped into a crouch. "You know the others are coming. It's one to six. You can't win that fight."

"Actually, its three to six, and you can't be a day over one hundred," he said, oblivious to my aggressive stance.

"Two to six. William decided to take his leave as you would be wise to do," I amended. He seemed shocked that he had been deserted.

"I see," he growled. "But seeing as they're not here _yet_, it seems I still have time." He lurched forward in a crouch and growled menacingly.

I snarled and lunged at him. At the same time, Abby bolted for the door.

Big mistake.

Riley flung me away from him and before I could get myself upright, he threw Abby back into one of the mirrors. I heard the mirror crack and I saw a long line of blood drip down her arm.

**Abby Wright**

I honestly thought she was trying to tell me to run, trying to give me the opportunity to get away.

What he had said to her about her 'mate' was beyond cruel, but I didn't put it above him to be that low.

But when I did try to run, while she was distracted, he flung me back into the mirrors. Miraculously, I only bumped my head when the glass shattered and no blood was drawn. But then that piece of glass had slashed the inside of my arm. Riley was hovering over me, but the next second, his face was replaced with Bella's. One of her hands gripped my bleeding arm, and the other my leg.

I heard Riley's maniacal cackling.

"What's worse?" he mused. "If I were to kill his girlfriend, or if it was one of his own?"

I saw that Bella's eyes were the darkest black I'd ever seen and her eyes were trained on the line of blood on my arm, her body shaking. I tried to scoot back, scared if she couldn't control herself, or what Kyle would do if she couldn't. Her hands were like iron, however, and I couldn't move an inch. I grew frantic trying to escape her death grip, possibly literally. I could feel tears streaming down my face. Bella's expression didn't change, but her eyes locked hungrily on my face.

I gasped out a half-sob in fear.

Then, Bella winked.

I just sat there, stunned. I saw from the corner of my eye Riley throw back his head as he laughed. This seemed to be what Bella was waiting for. Suddenly she was gone, and I heard the ear-splitting shatter as Riley flew into the mirrors on the other side of the room. He stood upright and Bella faced him from a few feet away.

"You didn't really think a bit of blood was enough to distract me, did you?" she asked him coyly. He snarled in response.

I stayed frozen in the corner, too shocked and scared to move or run.

_Please, where are you Kyle!?_

**Bella Swan**

I admittedly felt bad for scaring Abby, but I had to be careful. I didn't move and stared hungrily at her — I was a much better actress than I had once been. She was so scared I twitched my eye enough to make it look like a wink. She immediately stopped squirming. As soon as Riley threw back his head with laughter — eyes closed — I planted a foot on his chest and he slammed into the opposite wall. He stood up and looked at me furiously.

"You didn't really think a bit of blood was enough to distract me, did you?" I asked in an innocent voice.

He snarled back at me. "You would think I was doing her a favor. Surely dying now is better than the eternal suffering _you_ endure."

"That won't happen," my reply came flat and icy.

"If I do not kill her, the Volturi will surely if they find out —" he growled, grabbing at straws.

"Then it's a good thing they won't find out!" I snarled back.

He started to say something, but I cut him off, "Do you really think you will be able to convince me to let you kill her?" He glared at me, but I could see desperation in his eyes.

"Then it seems that you are the only thing in the way," he snarled.

With that, he lunged at my neck, but I sidestepped. I grabbed his arm in the same motion and threw him against the wall.

"Stop!" Abby choked out from her corner. I gazed at her for a half-second.

Another mistake.

Riley tackled me from in back of me. I felt his teeth sink into the back of my neck, and I cried out in pain. I tried to shake him off but only managed to extract his teeth from my neck. Instead, they only moved further down at my shoulder.

I could now hear the squealing of tires racing furiously from a few blocks away.

Riley heard them to. In the moment when Riley snapped his head up, I twisted him off of me and in a reflex reaction as I tried to get my arms around him, his teeth slashed across my elbow, but I managed to keep him on the ground.

A second later, everyone swept in the room. I jerked off of Riley and picked up a very frightened Abby and swept her into another room. Kyle followed me in, a low grumble in the back of his throat.

"What happened? Is she okay?" he asked frantically.

"Take a step back if the smell is too much," I said, trying to keep the pain out of my voice. The venom stung my neck and arm.

"I'm fine," he dismissed my warning and I knew he was right.

"Just a few bruises and this cut," I told him as I ripped off the hem of my shirt and tied it tightly around the top of her arm. She gasped in pain. "Sorry," I said.

"I never would have guessed you for the violent type," she gasped breathlessly.

I smiled blankly. "I'm full of surprises." She gasped out again and I mumbled another 'sorry'.

Kyle held her face in his hands and pressed his lips to her forehead. She buried her face in his chest and he stroked her hair whenever she winced as I dressed her wound. I tried to ignore the savage growls and snapping sounds in the other room, but they was easier to listen to than watch Abby and Kyle.

"The cut isn't deep but there's some glass in there and you'll probably need stitches." I turned my head to Kyle. "We should take her to the hospital now," I said softly and unintentionally winced. Kyle noticed that.

"Are you hurt?" a wild look came in my eyes. I remembered when the doctor said that to me after…No, not again — not here. "I was bitten a couple times. The venom stings, that's all." I could hear the fire crackling happily in the other room. "Let's move her."

He nodded and lifted her easily, pulling her face to him so she couldn't see as we walked past the fire. Her breathing was ragged with the pain.

"I know sweetheart, we're going to take you to the hospital," Kyle tried to soothe her. He walked her out into the night air. Our car was parked out front.

Everyone stood as I walked through the doorway to the main room; broken glass was scattered everywhere.

"Are you alright?" Julie asked me, placing a hand on my shoulder — the one that was bitten. I winced. "What happened?" she asked frantically, looking at my neck. When she found the two silvery crescents she gasped in horror.

"They just sting. I'll be fine," absently rubbing my elbow. Julie looked at that one as well. Then, she sighed and shook her head.

"How's Abby?" Emily asked from the confines of Carter's arms.

"Very shaken up, understandably. A few bumps and bruises and just one cut on her arm from the glass; she'll be fine." I tried to cover up my anxiety by musing, "You know I ended up with a broken leg, four broken ribs, some cracks in my skull, bruises covering every inch of my skin, _plus_ I had to get a few blood transfusions." My false humor vanished quickly. "And a scar…" I studied the side of my hand, lost in a world of my own.

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

A week later, When Kyle and I were out hunting, I saw his watching me with an odd expression on his face. I tried to ignore it, but when he frowned I asked him, "What?"

"You know, when Emily said you were gone, and you left your phone behind, I thought you had ditched us." He stated it so matter-of-factly that I just stared at him blankly.

Finally, I found my voice. "I wouldn't do that."

Kyle smiled sheepishly. "I know that." Then he cleared his throat. "I'm sorry I gave you such a rough time about all of this. I know it's been hard on you."

Neither of us said anything for the rest of the hunt.

Absentmindedly, I went over in my mind a check list of what had happened so far.

_Biology — check._

_Car accident — check._

_Port Angeles — check._

_Meet the family — check._

_Tracker — check._

The next thing on the list wasn't anything to be happy about.

_Could I stop it?_

_**I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry everyone. I have been so busy these last few weeks and yes, I have been working on it as often as I could. We had a snow day from school so I got time to finish it. It was 4,877 words long, not including the author's note. **_

_**Unfortunately for me, and luckily for you, my last basketball game is tomorrow so I will have a lot more free time now. I haven't forgotten you guys, I swear!**_

_**Ummmm… that's pretty much it except I want to ask you all something.**_

_**~If you were guess my age based only on my writing skills — how old would you guess? I know that on a previous chapter I told you, but this is without looking back.**_

_**CULLENS WILL BE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!!**_

_**Well review and stuff and thanks. **_

_**So…yea. **_

_**Kay.**_

_**~SuzieQ~**_


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